Goodbye, C-Center

Corporate America invaded campus Wednesday with the renaming of the Convocation Center to the BankUnited Center. We’re saddened to see our former and well liked name go.

UM has now joined the likes of Minute Maid Park in Houston, Heinz Field in Pittsburgh, Safeco Field in Seattle and PetCo Park in San Diego-not to mention last year’s FedEx Orange Bowl, the Tostitos Fiesta Bowl and the CapitalOne Bowl. Venues with ugly names advertising companies instead of their cities or teams are the norm now, as if we haven’t had enough with Geico-sponsored trivia and the Sprint halftime show. Is nothing sacred anymore?

Now, students will do a double take every time they see an event announced on Ticketmaster: Is it at the BankAtlantic Center (in Broward county) or at the BankUnited Center (on campus)? And who wants to see the name “BankUnited Center” on a graduation invitation?

Granted, the lure of millions of dollars is hard to decline, and the money from the donation BankUnited gave to the University is, without a doubt, greatly appreciated. But we still feel like we lost a little bit of our love for and ownership of the Convocation Center.